The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1887-01-15
A CASE OF DOUBLE.


Foxen- 1t occurred twenty-five years ago,
and do not wish at this ,cte day to revive
1T to the modification of relatives who were
i'll no wise to blame for his wild career. l
will therefore not name the state in which
the singular events were enacted, though
many readers will name it for themselves.
l had been sheriff Of - county about
six months when one morning an hour be-
fore daylight, farmer rode up to the Jail
residence and aroused me with the informa-
ton that murder had been committed at
"a farm house about six miles away. In
fifteen minutes L was ready TO return with
him. The neighborhood in which the muir
der occurred could be approached by two
different roads from the county seat, and
as l wanted to stop at the house of one of
my deputies took the other road from
which the farmer had come. We were
three miles from the scene of the murder,
and were riding at gallop when a man in
the road ahead of US on horseback flung
himself 10 the ground, climbed the roadside
fence, and made run across a wide
meadow toward piece OF woods.
OF course the action aroused our suspi-
cions. / was armed, while the farmer was
not. 1 left him To care for the three horses,
and was i'm chase of the man before he had
passed from sight. He not swift
runner, while | was a fair one. i began TO
gain on him at once, and he was hardly half
way across the meadow when he heard me
50 close behind that he halted, wheeled
around and fired at with IA single bar
relied bulldog pistol carrying a bullet al
most large enough for a musket. l was
not over twelve feet distant, but he missed
his target. l had come to a halt and had
my revolver in hand, but did not like to fire
upon him in return. When he saw that
was untouched by his bullet, he flung the
empty pistol at my head, drew murderous
looking knife, and called out that he would
not be- taken alive. l went within six feet
of him and demanded his surrender, but he
made "a rush at me, and L wa compelled to
fire at him in self defence. The bullet
struck his right wrist and passed through it,
and he dropped his knife and staggered like
one shot in the body. | was in ON him in
second or two, and, without waiting to dis
cover how seriously he wounded, l
bore him down AMI put on the handouts.
The victim of the murder an old far
mer named Stevens. His wife said that
she was awakened about O'Clock in the
morning by noise ia the room, and as she
sat up in bed she saw dark lantern on the
bureau and man searching the drawers
He turned toward her, and she screamed
out Her voice awoke her husband and
he was getting out Of bed when the intruder
rushed at him and stabbed him twice with
knife-the same he had threatened me
with. The husband fell back, TO die al
most Instantly, and the wife was so over
come with terror that she could not remen-
Der what happened in the next five minutes.
When she came to, the hired girl was
standing over the bed with light in her
hand.
IL was only after he had been convicted
and sentenced To be hanged that strange
phases began to crop out He had carefully
concealed his identity. He had given the
name of Arthur Foxen, but we did not be
lieve it to be his right one. He refused o.
give his residence or the name of his par
ents, and defied US to find out During his
trial "a woman named Newhall of Cincin
natl saw and identified him as her son. A
week later IA man and woman from Louis
Vile identified him their son, and said
his name was Martin Benson. The prisoner
received both claimants il they were
what they professed to be, and they could
not be convinced that there must be a mis-
take.
The next strange thing the apparent
death of the condemned looked into his
cell one day and found him, as l believed
stone dead. A doctor was called, and he
said it was a case of heart disease Ir
about twenty hours Foxen suddenly re
turned to life. refused to answer any ques
1 To have the keeping of him abou,
seventy days before his sentence would be
carried out, and was naturally worried over
such a slippery fellow. As the Jail contained
only two other inmates, | put Foxen in q
corridor by himself Five or six days afte,
his restoration To life was sitting alone in
the front office, busy at some letters, wher
heard soft footballs in the corridor. Jus,
as 1 rose up, Foxen rushed past my door
e l.. k..,k
surrounded by high wall he could not ge,
away. l led him back by the ear, and Z,
my utter establishment found the corridor
door firmly secured when | left it "A,
noon. Ii was doubly locked, and the heavy
bars were only three inches apart.
searched Foxen for a KEY but he had moth
ing, not even bit of wire stick. t,
unlock that door required a key weighing
six ounces, and hoy twelve years of az,
could have scarcely turned it, How did h.
get out, Answer the question for yourself
never could, though l devoted hundred
times the thought to it that you will. Tt
question him was useless. He simply pre-
served silence. After that | put a deatt
watch ON nina trusty man, well armed.
In a couple of weeks Foxen died again
THIS time | called in four or five OF the
leading doctors. His heart had ceased t.
beat, his pulse was gone and his face tool
on that patiOf winch only death can BRING
An electric battery was tried, but it pro
duced no effect The limbs became stiff ane
rigid, and pins We're thrust into the soles o
his feet without bringing n vince. Every
physician staked his reputation that il wa
case of death, and went after the under
taker to prepare the body for burial. III.
was away, and could not look for him be
fore morning. The body was left on tn,
bed in the cell and the man on watch re
moved Ii was about o'clock in the even
ing when Foxen died. The turnkey slep
ON cot in the other corridor. At mid
night he was awakened by a call and h
went to the door of the other corridor {,
find Foxen standing there in good health
and to hear him say:
Il wasn't ON hand to supper, but In
hungry AMI will take it nowH'
The outside public hears very little q
what goes ON in prisons. had no intention
OF permitting the world to know what hu
man curiosity l had got hold of. wrote
statement to the governor, feeling that b